Oath of Alleigance
by Retard'nt
Summary: Ever wondered what happened with Chen at the start of it all and how Ran met her? The day came when Ran finally was able to create Chen thanks to Yukari's help. But... there's something not quite right with the ritual that went underway. Honest criticism is welcome, thanks!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Fantastic Legend of Tōno

To start the story off, we are here at the Yakumo house. Ran Yakumo had just been doing work for her master, Yukari, and has just gone into the building, panting.

"Back again? That was fast," Yukari says, as she is drinking her tea as Ran slowly starts to sit down onto a chair. She continues, "you look tired", she says as she passes some food over to Ran, "here, eat".

Ran Yakumo, exhausted, replies with "if it wasn't for you and your errands, I would still be full of life."

Yukari smiles, "well, you are my shikigami. You have no choice but to obey me now…" she says as she winks, "... do you?"

This causes Ran to wonder because of Yukari's words, as she "accidentally" forgot that she was her shikigami.

Yukari, looking at Ran, says "yes?" to which Ran says "I suppose I am" in a displeased sense.

Yukari begins to wonder herself and begins to have a plan for Ran. "Hmm, I think I might have something for you", she thinks to herself as she opens up a gap and she then begins to say something to Ran again, which is another errand. "Now then, I want you to do something else for me," says Yukari.

Ran Yukari is still exhausted at this point and was sort of displeased with Yukari comment as she thought she was giving her another errand to fulfil. "Again? What do you want me to do now?" Says Ran, "do your shopping? Do house work? Swat Cirno?"

Yukari then starts to put her hand down the gap and begins to take out a bottle of sake and then she closes the gap. While she does this, she says this to Ran, "I want you to go out and get me an animal. Just any wild animal and not a youkai."

Ran Yakumo becomes even more concerned, "You have got to be joking…," as she thinks to herself. But given that she is a Shikigami, she has to obey her Master, regardless. So she waits to listen to what Yukari has to say.

Yukari begins to pick up her green tea and bottle and sake and goes to another room. But just before she does, she begins to say something to Ran about her errand, "I am going to wash myself. See you when you get back." That is when she then leaves the room, as does Ran.

Meanwhile, somewhere outside, presumably a forest, Ran is searching for an animal to please Yukari, since Yukari said that she wanted one. Ran thinks to herself, "This is so strange. Why must I look for an animal? I am not a nogitsune anymore."

As she looks around, she finally sees an animal, as cat as it were. After spotting the cat, she thinks to herself again, "That should do. I am not waiting all day just picking and choosing." She begins to walk slowly towards the cat, teasing it a little bit just to get its attention. "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty," Ran says, as she tries to get the cat. But the cat in question starts to run off and Ran starts to pounce on it only to miss. Ran sighs, "this is so demeaning."

Just then, someone appears to Ran and says this to her, "oh, my, my. Haven't you fallen?" Ran quickly realises who it was and begins to talk back as she looks at the person, who happens to be Mamizou, in a weird way, "great… A Bunbuku appeared."

Mamizou, not amused by that remark, begins to twitch her cheek and says "I see you are still treating me in that way, dear."

Ran talks yet again to the person. "What do you want?" She says, wanting a response. "Oh, I was just strolling around the forest," Mamizou says, " Can't a lady do that every once in awhile?"

Ran begins to think "something tells me that it is more than just that" and then begins to move away.

Mamizou then begins to laugh and a bullet begins to appear into her hand. "I will leave you do your… prey," she says.

Ran, knowing what the person is doing, produces Kitsunebi on each of her tails. "I would not do that if I was you," she says, as Mamizou's bullets disappear along with Ran's Kitsunebi shortly after. "Yes, look for your prey. I will be there to take it away from you," as Mamizou thinks to herself.

Ran sighs, "where is it," she says to herself as she is looking for the cat. She eventually finds the cat. After doing so, she begins to move closer to it and then quickly tries to catch it. The cat was trying to sleep at the time, so it was easy for her to catch it unawares, despite the cat struggling to break free when Ran caught it. Ran begins to head home, "this better not be a waste of time," she says, "what does Yukari want with an animal?"

At the Yakumo house, Ran has just returned. "Back? And I see that you have something," says Yukari to a tired-looking Ran as she is drinking her sake. " I have what you wanted. Now what?" Responds Ran.

"Hmm…", Yukari replies as she is putting her sake to one side, "put it on the table." Ran is confused about what Yukari said because it was such an odd request. "O… K…," as she says whilst putting the animal on a table.

It was at this point that Yukari, whilst sipping on her sake, says something really out of place, "and now, kill it." Ran looks at Yukari in a funny sense, "you have to be joking," she says as Yukari responds in a more serious manner, "seriously, I am not."

"Alright, then," Ran says and then thinks "poor thing". She points a finger at the cat and begins to call the name of her spell card, "Fox-Tanuki Youkai Laser". A blue laser shoots out of her finger and goes right through into the cat and the cat dies.

Yukari drinks some more sake. "Good", she says, "now I want you to transfer your blood to it…" just as she gets a syringe, she continues, "... with this."

Ran is surprised at the fact that Yukari had a syringe. "Where did you get that?" She says. Yukari winks and says, in an unconvincing manner, "I just found it laying around." Ran, however, saw through Yukari's lie and responds to it with "don't lie!"

Yukari then sniggers, and because Ran is wasting her own time and with Yukari being more knowledgeable than Ran, Yukari knew that if she was not fast enough, she would lose her chance at getting her own shikigami. "You better hurry up," she says, trying to rush Ran.

Ran takes the syringe and places it into her arm after pulling her sleeve up. She then takes blood out, after which she takes the syringe out and puts it into the cat, injecting it. She then says "Why are you making me do this?" Yukari then responds with, "so you can have a shikigami of your own."

At this point, Ran becomes surprised at what Yukari said because she could not believe what she just heard. "Do you really mean it!?" She says.

"I feel like it is about time for you to have one. Your power is impressive after all. You should be able to create and control your very own. This is the method used to produce them," says Yukari, as she smiles.

At the moment, Ran begins to take the syringe out from the cat's arm. Yukari continues with, "now you just need to transfer your own energy into it. Make sure that you are using an adequate amount,"

"Erm… OK," says an obedient Ran. She then begins to place her hand on the dead cat and begins to use Shikigami's Shot "Ultimate Buddhist" on it. She continues to do that for quite a while, putting more energy into the cat. She then stops and begins to pant. "There. I think that should be enough," she says, "but nothing has happened."

"Oh, something will happen. You will know it when you see it," says Yukari.

A few moments later a tail begins to split and it continues to split until it looks like just two tails. The cat then starts to shapeshift, the body getting bigger along with the limbs. Fur starts to fall out and the paws begin to look more human-like. The tail and ears also get bigger until eventually, a small humanoid girl is formed.

Yukari, pleased that it was done, says "There you have it" Looks does not look as content and begins to wonder as she looks at Yukari, "This… This is it? But she looks small. Wasn't my power enough?"

Yukari begins to agree that the Shikigami was not how she wanted it to be. "Well, it is a little disappointing, I must admit," she says. Ran begins to shout, "A LITTLE!?"

The humanoid cat then starts to wake up, the wound that Ran inflicted healed itself.

The unnamed shikigami begins to wake up and talk, "Uhh… Uh…," she says as she is looking around, "Where am I?" She then begins to look at her own hands and begins to think that something is amiss, "Wha... what am I?," she says in disbelief.

Yukari looks at the shikigami and begins by saying "ah… I see she is awake." "Who are you?," The shikigami says. "This is Yukari and I am Ran. And you are?," responds Ran.

The shikigami then responds by saying this to her, "I… I do not have a name."

It was at this time that Ran decided to give her a name of her own, since she said that she did not have one, so she responds with " hen how about I call you something? Let me see… How about I call you "Chen"?"

Yukari opens up a gap and begins by saying, "Chen seems fine to me," hinting that she is fine with the name. " I am just going to get some clothes. Let me see, where are they?" She says as she put her hand into the gap and is trying to find some clothes. "Ah here they are," she says as she takes out some closes from the gap and then closing it, "Ta-da!"

"Chen... Chen…" She says to herself, listening to her new name, "Chen…" She then closes her eyes and begins to talk again and says "it is a nice name." Yukari then gives Chen the clothes that she took out from the portal. "Put these clothes on," she says. Chen then gets up from the table and starts to put them on after a moment.

Ran begins to notice something. "A pink dress? Oh, I get it. So that is where you got that syringe from…," as those thoughts entered her head. Chen then becomes tired, going "hmm… I am sleepy" and then falling to the floor shortly after.

"It seems like she was worn out like me. Was that much really necessary?," Ran asks Yukari. Yukari then responds by saying, "In order to have a good, healthy Shikigami you need a good amount of energy, otherwise it will just result in a failure. The technique is called "Yuketsu""

Ran is confused by this. "Yu… ketsu?," she says.

Yukari then responds with a smirk, saying "That is it!" She continues, " But listen, Ran, now that you have your own shikigami, you must protect it. Your life will never be the same again.

Several hours pass.

Ran comes into the room that Chen was in to tell her that dinner is ready, since she felt like she needed to eat, only to find that she is missing. "That little…," she says. She then goes to find Yukari and when she manages to find her, says "Yukari, my shikigami is missing!"

On a chair with her fist-made hand against her cheek and chin, Yukari then responds with "Missing? What do you mean?"

"She vanished! She is not in the room that she slept in," says Ran, answering Yukari.

Yukari takes her hand away from her face and stands up and makes a remark, "Really? That is interesting…"

Ran looks concerned at this point and says, "What? So she really was defective?" Yukari begins to talk, saying " I really…" But before she could finish her sentence, Ran runs out of the building. Yukari sighs, saying "good grief."

Meanwhile, somewhere outside, Chen is walking along a forest-like area and heading towards a lake. " What is this place?" She says as she looks around in wonder and then stops only to look at herself, "Did I die? Is this… the afterlife?" After questioning herself, she falls to the ground. "So weak…" she says as she begins to cry, "Just… just so weak…" She then looks at her own reflection in the lake and is shocked at what she sees. "Just what am I!?" She says as she then puts her hands on her face, "just what am I? I am just…," to which, she begins to cry again, "... I am just a monster! She then looks up and sees mountains ahead and then suddenly stops crying and says, "those giant hills look look nice." She then gets up and starts to walk towards them, but slowly and carries on talking, saying "So pretty. So… So…" before tripping over.

Just then a gap appears and Yukari is seen through it. She then moves her head towards the outside and puts the back of her hand against her chin and makes it looks like surrogate support to rest it on.

"Well, well. So this this is where you were. Been a naughty girl, haven't you? Leaving the house like that unnoticed." Says Yukari.

Chen, looking at Yukari, then responds with, "please, just go. I want to be alone," indicating to Yukari that she wants to be alone. Yukari tries to convince Chen and says, "You are confused, I know. But Ran is your master and she help you." Chen questions this. " I have a… master?" She says. Yukari closes her eyes and smiles, "of course," she says.

Further questioning from Chen, "then, who are you?" Wanting to find the answers to things. Yukari explains herself, " I am a youkai just like you. I am Yukari and I am your master's master," she says. This puzzles Chen, to which she says to Yukari, "Youkai? Like me?"

After saying that, all of sudden there is movement in the nearby forest.

"But… " says Chen, as she is looking at the ground, "So it is true, I am dead. This is not me… THIS is not REALLY me!"

Yukari then says more to Chen, putting more words of wisdom into her own existence and hoping that she will begin to understand, " You are still you. You are just an, let's say, improved version of your former self. Yes, it is true that you died, but look at yourself now. You can breathe, you can touch, you can probably be hungry. You are even talking to me. Do not see this as the afterlife. No… this is Gensokyo. Your home, your birthright. "

Chen closes her eyes and sways her head, "I… I don't know. You say I died, so I must be dead still. I do not think I can believe that I am still alive. This all feels like some sort of dream," she says, as a tear rolls down her face, "How can my "master" help me?" She then looks at Yukari and continues, "Tell me!"

Just then, a blue laser appears out of a forest and is aimed directly at Chen. Chen managed to sense it beforehand and quickly dodged. Yukari quickly moved out of the away and started to close the gap but before you could, the laser entered it and damaged part of the room that she was in.

Yukari, fallen down from the portal and now in the house, goes into a daze. "There you go again, reckless as usual," she says as she returns to normal and begins to get up off of the floor, "And here's me telling you to take care of her. Please do not go over the top, Ran." She looks at the part of the room that was damaged and continues, "You best not do to her what you did to this room."

Meanwhile, back in the other area.

Chen begins to look at Ran, who starts to emerge from the forest nearby, and questions her by saying "what do you want?"

Ran is seen annoyed and says "I have come to take you home" to Chen.

Chen responds, loudly, with "No!"

Ran explains that Chen does not have a choice in the matter and says, "that is not an option. You will come with me whether you like it or not." Chen continues to shout and says in response to Ran's comment, "I said NO!"

Ran begins to think to herself, "fine then, we will do this another way." A Kitsunebi begins to appear onto her hand and she says a fair warning to Chen, in the sense of a choice, "Either you come with me, or you die right here."

Chen begins to move up into the sky, trying to get away from Ran, Ran then fires her Kitsunebi at her, which she then fails to dodge and part of her body gets damaged.

Ran cringes, "It seems like you really do not see me as your Master. Without me you would not even be here," she says, "But maybe it is because you are a confused newborn. But rejection is something that I am not going to forgive!" She goes up into the sky and starts to use Shikigami's Radiance "Princess Tenko -Illusion-". Bullets appear all around Ran and scatter in a particular direction, which one set of bullets heading straight towards Chen.

Chen, in her condition, starts to move around relatively fast, dodging all of Ran's bullets. She then manages to get close enough to Ran and then lengthens her "claws" and starts to attack Ran. Ran dodges every single one of Chen's attacks and then moves around quickly, hitting Chen with her tails and sending her downwards. Chen then quickly recovers. She then begins to use Yin Yang "Douman-Seiman", which causes her to move in a pentagram-like shape and developing bullets as she travels. All of the bullets go into Ran's direction and they look like they are about to hit, but all of a sudden Ran is protected by a shield and all of the bullets just disappear.

Chen is seen panting severely. Ran begins to think to herself, starting to become rather concerned, "at this rate she really will die." Due to her own concerns, she decides that she does not want to fight anymore since she would only kill Chen. She then tries to command Chen to surrender and says, "just give up, Chen. Just… give… up."

Chen, still panting, rejects the proposal, saying "I told you… No… " in advance. From thereafter, her speech begins deteriorate and she begins to struggle to talk due to her condition, but she tries by saying "I… want to be... alone."

Ran sighs, "then I have no choice," she says, as Kitsunebi begin to appear onto her tails and she then says "and I was really looking forward to having you around as well," dreading that it had to come down to this.

Ran moves her head quickly and notices something about Chen. Chen's breathing suddenly gets deeper and she then quickly moves to Ran's location and striking one of her tails with her "claws". Ran extinguishes her Kitsunebi and her shield suddenly breaks as Ran looks at Chen in shock, moving her head slowly. Chen also sliced into one of her tails, cutting it off. This causes Ran to bleed severely.

Ran then becomes shocked at what happened. She could not believe what just happened. "Why you little…" she says, as she puts her hand onto Chen's forehead and then forcefully pushing her, sending her to the ground, "... BRRRAATTTTT!"

Chen falls to the ground and then rebounds, coughing up a little bit of blood.

Ran begins to cringe as she becomes sore all of a sudden. She thinks to herself, "what was that just now? I am not hurt, yet… I could feel pain?" She then uses her Hoshi-no-Tama to protect the part that had the tail cut off, stopping the bleeding. She also loses altitude as she moves towards Chen. Chen is then seen awake but is still on the ground. Ran continues to persuade Chen to stop, "just give up. You cannot win," she says.

Chen tries to get up off the ground, one eye half closed as the other one is just barely open. Just then, Ran fires another Shikigami's Radiance "Fox-Tanuki Youkai Laser" , this time towards Chen's shoulder, missing her lung. "I said…" Ran says, grabbing the part that she felt a sudden pain which happened near her shoulder, "... give up." Chen then goes unconscious.

Just then, Yukari appears. She sees the injured Chen and begins to say something to Ran, "my, you really did a number on her, didn't you?" To which Ran responds with, "there was no other way. I did not have a choice in the matter," trying to tell Yukari that she had to do that in order to try and stop Chen.

Yukari looks at Ran in a sort of displeased way, "There is always a choice." She continues, "you just need to have a bit of time," informing Ran that she was being far too reckless for her own good.

Ran Yakumo spoke back, saying that she was being disobedient "But you saw her," she says, "she went out on her own accord and she was not willing on being obedient."

Yukari begins to open up her fan and then puts it in front of her face. She then asks Ran a question, "and then what did she do?" Ran is troubled on what to say at this point, giving the response, "Well… Er…"

Yukari, trying to acknowledge the situation, begins to say that Ran was the one who attacked first. "She acted on self-defence alone from thereafter," she then says. "Listen, Ran, she has a mind of her own," she says, trying to get Ran to understand that Chen is not just some mindless doll. It was then that she points to chen and says "This act confirms it. But with what you did…" It was then that she saw why Ran did this to Chen since she assume that Ran only wanted to bring her home and that she wanted to bring her back in her own way.

Ran has nothing to comment at this point whereas Yukari does. "You did not kill her," she says, thinking that Ran never really intended on killing her. She then continues, saying that Ran meant no real harm by what she did, "even I know that you did not want to discard her. Let's just take her back home.

Ran agrees with the idea of going back home and says, "yes, you're right". It was then that she grabs Chen and then flings her over her shoulder. "You still have a lot to learn, Ran," Yukari thinks to herself, squinting her eyes as she does, "much more…"

They both leave the area. Meanwhile, someone else happened to be in the area. Someone just happened to be in the area and this certain person saw the entire event that took place here. The person just so happened to observe situation.

"Well, this is interesting. Very interesting," the person says, as he/she begins to stroke a cat that he/she happens to have with him/her, "What a nice spectacle to see. I would love to have that one as a pet. Would you not agree…" she continues, stroking the cat more and seemingly talking to herself, "my dear Orin?" The cat, supposedly called "Orin" due to what the person just said, begins to meow.

End of episode


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Coexistence

Somewhere along the road on the way to Myouren Temple, Mamizou Futatsuiwa is seen walking towards the Temple and humming to the tune, "Futatsuiwa from Sado."

"Oh, what a lovely day this is," Mamizou says as she is heard chuckling, " It will be nice to get back home. I wonder how my dear Kagi is doing?" Just then, Mamizou begins to stop as she begins to notice something really odd. "Wait…," says Mamizou, in shock of the sight of what's in front of her. " Where has the entrance gone," she questions, as she looks around the area, "no, not just the entrance, THE ENTIRE TEMPLE!" "This cannot be happening," Mamizou slowly begins to bring herself down to the ground, her legs landing firmly onto the ground, "this simply cannot be happening.

Just then, Mamizou heard rustling from within the trees. "Hmm?" She murmurs, as she looks in the direction of where she heard the noise and slowly starts to pick herself up from the ground and stands up. "Who is there?" The rusting gets emitted again and Mamizou sees movement and Mamizou continues, " I know you are there. Come out, whoever you are" and then thinks to herself, "it is probably just a bird or squirrel." Mamizou then turns into the direction of where the temple supposedly was and starts to move and thinks to herself again, wondering what ever happened to Myouren Temple, "now onto this mystery. Just what did happen to Myouren Temple?"

Just then, a figure appears from the trees and jumps towards Mamizou. Mamizou quickly notices and dodges just in time.

"You dodged that well," the person says as he/she begins to straighten him/herself up. Mamizou responds, question the person, "who are you? You should leave." "Does it really matter who I am? Oh yes, that is right. You have never seen me before, have you?" The person responds with and then Mamizou answers with an answer that tells the person that she had never saw him before, "That is because you have never BEEN here before." "Leave! Now!" She demands. The person moves his kasa down a bit, covering his/her face a bit, and says to Mamizou, " I really cannot do that. Not when I have grown so…

Mamizou then attacks the mysterious person. But just as she attacks him/her, he/she disappears and then reappears just behind Mamizou.

Mamizou then begins to wonder what happened and thinks to herself, "what the…?" "Surely a lady like yourself, has time to let others finish their own comments" The mysterious person responds with. Mamizou then turns around to look at the person and informs the person that he is an intruder. "But you are just some shady person, an intruder," she says. The intruder questions Mamizou's own words and begins to snigger. Mamizou then has a good look at the person and examines the person thoroughly, "So, hun, who are you? You look like some youkai to me," she says.

The person stays silent. Mamizou picks up on this and responds by saying, "Being silent now, are you?" She then begins to smile and wink and the continues to speak, Fine then."

Mamizou begins to produce a bullet in her hand and then she fires it at the mysterious person. But then the person suddenly disappears.

This causes Mamizou to wonder as she thinks to herself, "again? What is this person?"

Then suddenly, someone emerges from the forest nearby and moves into the sky. The person begins to bring his/her sword in front of him/her and starts to say something and begins to say something, "Sword Dance Ni: "Light Shower"!"

After bringing his/her sword up, bullets start to appear and as he/she quickly brings his/her sword down, they start to fall down into Mamizou's direction. Mamizou dodges all of them and starts to run in a direction. The bullets then follow her, leaving Mamizou to ascend into the sky.

Mamizou then retaliates by releasing white bullets as well as purple bullets from her spell card, Raccoon Sign "Full Moon Pompokolin". The person then tries to move towards Mamizou, trying to dodge each bullet and also uses his/her sword to try and eliminate the bullets. He/she then gets hit by a bullet, which then causes him/her to fall down.

Mamizou begins to descend and says, "That was simple enough," implying that it was such an easy battle. She then walks up to the person and begins to demand answers, "but that does not mean that I will leave you to it. Who are you? Who sent you? The person begins to get cocky. "I have you right where I want you," he thinks to himself. He/she gets his/her sword and brings it upwards and begins to say something, "Sword Dance Ichi…," to which, he/she then hits the ground with the sword, "... "Shadow from Below"!"

Swords start to come out of the ground and towards Mamizou. Mamizou quickly goes into the air and the person then appears behind her and attacking her with his/her, wounding her slightly via cutting her as she tried to defend herself, and then he/she kicks her, which causes her to fall to the ground.

Mamizou begins to cough. "Ow, my head," she says as she begins to get up off the ground. The mysterious person descends, "I never wanted to fight you to begin with. My own doing was just self-defence because of you," he/she says, trying to clarify himself. Mamizou chuckles, admitting that she was the one who attacked first and says this, "that is true, I did attack you." She continues, "but that is because you are an intruder," saying that she only did it because it was her job to, considering she is Myouren Temple's last line of defence.

The mysterious person begins to sigh and and sway his/her head from side to side, "You are only saying that because you have never seen me before," he/she says. "Never…," Mamizou says as she becomes puzzled, "... seen you before? Well, no, I haven't. Tell me, if you have been here, then why have I never seen you before?".

" I live out here, in the trees," the person explains. "You see, to me, this is my home." Mamizou does not seem to understand the person. Being sceptical, she still says that he should not be here, saying "but "home" is not at the Myouren Temple, now, is it? You still should not be here." The person begins to say "really?" Just then, he/she takes his/her kasa off and continues, "tell that to Byakuren, then."

Mamizou becomes shocked by this. Not because of the person's appearance since she now has a good look at him/her, but at what he/she just said. She questions the person, "who… Just who are you? How do you know Byakuren?" This is where the so-called "intruder" explains him/herself and says this, "I am Yashima Hogo of a place called Takamatsu. And this… this is my home." The person's name is identified as "Yashima Hogo". Mamizou does the same and says, "I am Mamizou Futatsuiwa from Sado. And you said you were from Takamatsu? I have never heard of such a place."

Yashima says that the place is a far away place and continues by saying this, "A place where I lived with my former master." Mamizou becomes intrigued by this, "master?" She says, then thinking of something else, "so you were not sent here by Nue?" This is where it gets a little bit interesting. Yashima is not exactly what Mamizou thought he/she would be. To explain, Yashima had this to say, "I was not sent here by anyone. I am a shikigami, a Bake-danuki shikigami."

"So why are you here? Why not just stay over at… er.. Takamatsu?" Says Mamizou. Yashima then explains why he decided to come to Myouren Temple to begin with, "Byakuren was the one who said that I could come here and I came with her out of my own accord. I am here as the guardian in order to pay my debt to her." With he, he/she implies that he/she is doing this all on whim. Mamizou took note of this and begins by asking him/her something, "and what is this debt, hun?" "I…," he says, hesitating for a bit, "... would rather not go into it."

Mamizou begins to realise something and says, "so if you are the guardian here, how come I have never seen you before?" Yashima begins to talk again, "that is because…" he/she says, as he begins to clear his/her throat, "... I live out here." "As a guardian I am meant to be outside anyway, but I like to live out here instead of the Myouren Temple. I do go into the premise from time to time, though."

Mamizou begins to confirm Yashima's gender, "and you are not a female either," she says, "that's… unusual." She then moves her thoughts over to Myouren Temple. Still confused as to what happened, she questions Yashima, "But why isn't the temple here? There is nothing ahead of us."

Yashima then says " Oh, that…," afterwhich, he begins to click his fingers. After doing that, Myouren Temple starts to materialise. This moment then shocks Mamizou.

"I cannot transform like a bake-danuki should. But to make up for it, I have an ability to create illusions. Myouren Temple has always been here. I just did not allow people to see it," says Yashima as he then begins to jump onto a tree. Mamizou begins to try and get his attention again, "where are you going?" She says.

Yashima puts his kasa back on and responds, "I am going to Myouren Temple for a bit. Talk to you later! But before I go, mind your step! Bye" He then starts to jump from branch to branch and into the premise of Myouren Temple.

Mamizou begins to shout, trying to grab his attention again, "wait a minute," she says and then lowering her tone, she continues to talk, saying that she had queries about him, "I wanted to ask him something. He said he was a shikigami. He said that he lived with his former master. Then this master of his must have created him."

Mamizou covers her wound with her hand and then begins to walk towards the Myouren Temple. But just as she was walking to it, she noticed something about the ground. The ground started to move. Mamizou quickly goes to safety and after that, the ground came apart.

Mamizou begins to look surprised whilst sweating at the same time and begins to laugh nervously, "Aha ha… ha…"

Meanwhile, at the Yakumo house, Ran and Yukari come back with the unconscious Chen.

Yukari begins to smile and says, "here we are. Home, sweet home," talking with a sense that shows that she is glad to be back. Ran, however, sighs and is not showing the same mood. "That was tiring and annoying," she says. Yukari responds to Ran with, "hehe, no one said that having fun was bad," which does not make Ran amused at all. She ends up saying "who said that I was having fun?" To Yukari as she is looking at her. "Oh yes, that's right," says Yukari as she opens up her fan and puts it in front of herself, "you were having difficulties.

Ran begins to place the unconscious Chen onto the bed. "Difficulties with controlling your own flesh and blood," explains Yukari. A puzzled Ran then says, "my own flesh and blood? What are you talking about?" She did not even understand what Yukari was talking about. Yukari brings her fan down and tries to explain herself, "A shikigami is not just another entity, it is also a part of you." This does not make things easier for Ran, as she is still puzzled by Yukari. "it is also a part of… me?"

Yukari had this to say, "yes. Tell me, Ran, did anything happen when you were fighting Chen? Did you notice something strange?" "I…," says Ran, as she begins to remember that sensation that she felt when she attacked Chen,"when I attacked her, it felt like I was the one that was damaged. I do not know why but I could feel pain." She begins to remember the time she attacked Chen with her laser. "At that moment…," she begins to grab the part of her where she felt the sensation, "... I could feel a strange feeling right here."

Yukari then notices that Ran did in fact notice something and says, "oh? So you did notice it." Ran still does not know what Yukari is talking about and responds with, "just what are you trying to say?" Yukari goes to get a bandage, "I will tell you in a minute, but first let's get your damaged tail sorted out. And Chen, too." She says.

Yukari, after getting the bandage, then goes to goes to Chen and starts wrapping the bandage over the part that was bleeding due to the laser penetrating her. After that, she then goes to Ran starts to wrap the bandage over the part of the tail that was cut off.

Ran cringes in pain. " I cannot believe this actually happened to you. You can be careless at times, Ran." Says Yukari. Yukari explains how she is about as shock as she is, saying "I am just as shocked as you are. I cannot believe she could be this powerful." So, it seems that even her own shikigami got her surprised.

"Powerful enough to cut your tail? Or do you mean just enough to break your own shield." Says Yukari. This intrigues Ran, " ... How did you know about that?" She says as she tries to demand an answer.

"How else can anyone cut off one of your tails? I said that you can be careless at times but I know well enough that you are well prepared." Yukari, after saying this, finishes off wrapping the bandage around Ran's tail and then says something else, "there, I've finished. You can release your Hoshi-no-Tama, now."

Ran's shield then dissipates.

Ran is still bringing about concerns since Yukari has not been very clear with her. She wanted answers about her shikigami. The ritual that Yukari had her do did something and she did not know what happened or why it happened. "I still do not get it. You told me to put in an adequate amount of power into her for a healthy shikigami. How could this have happened?" Questions Ran.

"Hmm…," goes Yukari as she begins to theorise, "maybe it is because you added too much power." Ran begins to look at Yukari in a weird way. "What!? Bu-but you said…," she says, awkwardly. "I told you to put in enough power. I never said to add more than enough power or less than that. Using less power gives you a weak shikigami…," explains yukari. Ran continues, thinking she knows what Yukair was about to say. So in response, she says, "whilst giving it more power makes it a threat?"

Yukari winks at Ran, hinting that she got it right, saying "you've got it!" She carries on, saying "but luckily for you, I have the perfect solution." That is when she goes to get something and then comes back.

Ran looks at Yukari. "What is it?" She says. Yukari opens the box and explains, "what is inside this box? It is a ring used to control people. Well, earring. It normally gets used on shikigami so that their Masters can keep them in check. Ran becomes concerned, thinking that it is just an earring and nothing more. "But it is just an earring… How is this supposed to help?" She says, unconvinced that this will help her in any given way.

"Silly kitsune. It works like this: all one has to do is put his or her energy into the object. The energy that got transferred acts as a means to keep the power in check by rejecting it, therefore the energy does not pour out," says Yukari, more words of wisdom from such a wise youkai. This leads to more questions and it is Ran who has more questions that needed answering and so she goes to ask this, "but what he it gets taken off? People would not want to be controlled or anything like that. Surely they would at least try to take it off."

Yukari sticks a finger out in front of Ran, starts to move it left and right and also has one eye closed. "That is why I will be putting my power into it and not you," she says.

Yukari puts a hand onto the earring and starts to imbue it with her own power.

After doing that, Yukari has more to say, "you see, with me doing this instead of you, it will reject anyone that tries to even touch it. Anyone but the one whose power it belongs to." "So Chen can never take it off?" Ran questions, and Yukari responds, as she closes her eyes and smiles, with, "exactly!" Ran looks more confused at this point, since she the whole thing makes no sense to her whatsoever. "That does not make sense. That would mean that I have the right to do it," says Ran. Little did Ran know that she was in fact forbidden from actually doing that. This is where Yukari has to explain herself even further. "Your power flows in Chen's veins now. Using your power on such an item would only make things worse," Yukari says, as she adds more explanations.

Yukari Yakumo then goes to Chen and begins to put the earring into her ear, piercing her ear in the process.

After that, Yukari draws her attention to Ran once more. "Now, about what I was talking about before." Upon getting Ran's attention again, she is sort of puzzled by Yukari's comment, saying " About before…?" She then begins to realise what Yukari meant and so carries on by saying "oh, about the occurrence. So, what was that exactly?"

"It was the bond between master and servant," Yukari explains to an eager Ran. Ran begins to squint an eye and says, "what are you talking about?" This is where Yukari becomes even more like a teacher and so she begins to tell Ran a bit more about her role as Master and how her role is important.

"The blood that gets injected into a chosen animal acts as a trigger for this bond that I like to call "Kyōzon". With this, you and the shikigami become one. This means that when your shikigami gets hurt, you too, get hurt. But do not worry. You will not die from this." Ran thinks to herself after Yukari's this, coming to the realisation of something, "so that explains the pain that I got more than once."

Yukari continues, "there are two types of Yuketsu; Ketsuyuketsu and Hāyuketsu. Ketsuyuketsu is the transference of DNA that gets poured in via the blood that you inject. With this, you and the shikigami become one and the shikigami's pain becomes your pain but not the other way around. Your shikigami's death will not result in your death and it is the same if you die. Hāyuketsu is a more serious matter that strengthens the bond between you and the shikigami. It is the transference of the heart and with that, you sort of become immortal."

This gets Ran a little bit interested as the last part of what Yukari said got her wondering, "you become immortal?" Yukari responds with, "in a way, yes." Yukari continues, "the shikigami becomes your heart in other words. As long as your shikigami lives, you live. Any damage you take however, gets inflicted onto your shikigami. But thankfully, he or she will not die from this. Ever. Likewise, if your shikigami takes damage, you take damage. Doing this also gives more power to the shikigami on top of the power that one bestows upon it."

This is where Ran stumbled upon something. Her ears twitch a little bit as a keyword entered her head. "But wait… What did you say before?" Ran says, as she wanted a confirmation on what Yukari just said, as so to believe what she thought she heard was actually what she heard. Yukari looks at Ran with a puzzle expression and she says, "what I said?"

Ran begins to explain what she thought she heard, "what you said… about the shikigami dying. Tell me, what would happen if the shikigami died?" She asks, since she did not hear Yukari clearly when she said this. Yukari responds and her response was not a pleasant one, "that is simple. The master would die." This eerie response shocks Ran. She could not believe what she just heard.

Yukari sort of took note of that and adds more to her words, "that is what makes the Hāyuketsu so much more dangerous. Not only does it increase the chances of an unstable, out-of-control shikigami, but the price for if the shikigami were to die is too great."

"Is that so?" Ran says, as she then looks at Chen. She then begins to think to herself, "no wonder she did not want me to transfer my heart. She must have been concerned about me. Because I am her shikigami." This is where Yukari believes that her work is done, "right, that is me done." She opens up a portal and puts her hand into it. "I'm thirsty after all that," she says, as she takes a bottle of sake out of the portal and then closing the portal.

Ran looks at Yukari in an awkward sense, thinking to herself, "where is she getting those from?" Yukari announces that she is tired. "Not to mention I'm tired," she says while she yawns, "and we still have all that fur to clear up." Rather than letting Yukari do that, Ran volunteers. "I can do that for you, Yukari," she says. Yukari then begins to feels pleased at Ran for wanting to do that for her, as so to save her the trouble, and says, "oh, would you? That would be lovely of you, Ran." She then says more, "but then again, you are my Shikigami," saying that it was her job, giving her role, and she then winks at her.

Yukari Yakumo then leaves the room.

Ran gets a brush and shovel and starts to clear away the fur that fell off of Chen after the procedure was underway. Ran then stops and begins to think.

Ran begins to get bothered by something. She begins to think back when she fought Chen. "That time when I saw Chen…" She then begins to remember the time when Chen moved to her, just before breaking her shield. "At that time, I did not like the look in Chen's eye. Not… one… bit…," she says, feeling a little bit of concern. Thoughts of that battle enter her mind again and then she carries on cleaning soon after. After which, she then goes to Chen and she then looks back at Chen and thinks to herself, "oh, Chen… What am I going to do with you? Now the dress is in a mess and we do not have any spares, all dusty with blood. I might have to see what I can find." Ran then begins to sigh and then leaves the room.

Chen then begins to wake up.

As Chen wakes up, she closely begins to open up her eyes. It was at this moment that she felt relieved. "I'm… I'm alive…," she says, as a tear rolls down her face.

End of Chapter


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Subterranean Influence

Somewhere near the Yakumo house, after Yukari and Ran both come back to the house after obtaining Chen, two characters are seen observing the house.

"Is this the place?" Says one of the people and another responds with a, "yes, this is the place. This is where I saw her being brought to." The other person questions the other, wondering why they are here. " Why are we here, if you don't mind my asking?" He says asks. The other person denies giving a proper answer, saying "never you mind. Never you mind." In response.

The other person winks and smiles at the other. "Oh, I see," he/she says, "you want another pet, don't you?" The person to whom he/she asked the question to does not say anything and stays silent. "You have me as well as Okuu," the person says, "why ask for anymore? Come on, do not be so cold."

The other person sniggers a little bit and seeing the irony behind the said words, he/she comments with, "coming from you, that is quite funny." "Aww, you know you love us, really. You are just too embarrassed to admit it," says the person, trying to act cute and assume that the person is caring inside. The other person looks at him/her in annoyance, "Oh, shut up, kitten!", he/she says. The other person smiles and closes his/her eyes and mocks the person, "you are so cute when you get mad like this!"

"I will leave you to it, then," the other person says as he/she begins to walk off. The other person wonders, "where are you going?" He/she asks. The other person stops moving and says this, "Home. I was going to be the one to bring our little friend back with us, but I had a little… change of plan. I think it would be much more interesting if a cat does it instead." The other person, presumed to be a cat, opens his/her eyes wide in a shocked expression and says, "Are you serious? But why? Oh, you aren't mad at me, are you? "

"Mad? At you? Please, you are just my play thing." Says the person, implying that there is nothing wrong at all, to which to person replies, "And yet I am the only thing you get to play with! Going into your arms and feeling warm," taking the mick out of the person and then begins to laugh, continuing with, "you just love touching me."

This annoys the person in question and he/she sighs and thinks to him/herself, "I swear I am going to murder that cat one day…," and then says, "just remember what you need to do, Orin."

The other person, Orin, says, "alright, you want me to bring her with us to the Palace of Earth Spirits. Only because I made you sad." She then starts to feel sad, but in a joking sense, "but I would still want to make this one mine," as she thinks to herself. The other person somehow knew what she was thinking and then says, "do not even dare, Orin!" This causes Orin to start sweating and thinks to herself again, "she read my mind."

"I know you too well. But I suppose that it must be in your nature," the person says as he/she begins to shrug, "when you are a cat you are gentle, but as soon as you change back, you act like this. It is always the same with you." Orin tilts her head to a side, closes her eyes and then smiles, "And I plan to keep it that way," she says as she sticks her tongue out, "nya."

"Do not "nya" me!" The person says, implying that she did not want to hear that. Orin then begins to look cute towards the person and says "aww!". The person responds with, "and you can stop with the 'acting cute' coy. Doing that is not going to change my mind. Not at all, not with you." Orin gives the person a devilish look and thinks, "Whoops, I think I might have annoyed her." Assuming that you might have done something wrong.

Caught by surprise yet again, the person, who is revealed to be Satori, says, "and Satori thinks that you should not have done that." Orin begins to look scared by this. "But do not worry…," she says as she gives Orin a smirk, "... you will get your punishment back at the Palace. She then begins to move. Orin tries to persuade the person to stay, saying that she will be good, "bo, don't leave me! I promise I will be good."

Satori then walks off and leaves Orin.

Orin begins to move her mouth a bit to her left and thinks to herself, "now I am all on my own. She then looks at the Yakumo house and thinks again, "I suppose I will wait here until I get a chance to get in and grab that person." She then begins to lick her lips slowly.

Meanwhile, in the Yakumo house, Chen has just woken up after falling unconscious in her battle with Ran.

Chen pulls the blanket over and looks at her body, part of her face covered in a tear. "I really am alive," she says as she then puts her hand against her forehead in a forceful manner and then cries even more, but in a sense of relief. "I really am alive!" she says, emotionally. She continues, "these feelings… What are these feelings that I have? Is this "happiness"? Is this what happiness feels like? Am I relieved? It feels… feels so strange. It does not feel happy at all. It feels like pain." She starts to get up and then starts to ache because of her shoulder. "Ah!" She says, as she then puts her hand against her shoulder. What happened? Am I… hurting? She notices that she had pain in her shoulder, the area that was shot by Ran's laser. She begins to fall down to the bed slowly. "Oh, that's right. I was in a fight. A fight with… my master? How strange, do I really have a master?" She says.

Chen then notices someone in the room. Ran happens to be in the room with her.

"Yes, Chen, you have a master. I am your master. And I created you." Ran says. Chen responds with, "you…," then takes her hands out and looks at them and continues, "... created me?" "Yes, I am your master, your creator. Well, technically I am your "mistress" rather than your master. I am a female after all. But you are not alone. You will not be alone," Ran explains.

This puzzles Chen, "But... Bu-but you tried to kill me." She grips her hands and begins to cringe and continues, "how can I believe you after what you did?"

Ran sighs and says, "you can choose whether to believe me or not." applying that she does not care whether Chen believes her or not. "The fact is…," she says, as she then brings to turn her head to her side, "... I was being reckless." She closes her eyes and continues, "I… I never wanted to kill you." This causes Chen to wonder, "Really?" She asks.

Ran confirms something to Chen, "Yes, that is the truth." She then brings some food in. "Here, I want you to eat this. You must be really weak by now. It is teriyaki chicken and soup. This is the least I can do for you." She says, as she wants to do something right. Chen takes the food and thanks Ran, "Th-thank you, er, Ran?"

Ran responds with, "so you do know who I am," smiling a little bit as she seems happy somehow that Chen knew her name. "Well, I will leave you to it. Eat up and stay well. Don't go running off again," she says as she then leaves the room.

Chen begins to wonder something, "so Ran is my master? The name of my master… is Ran? And this Yukari… She is my master's master? So then, Ran is… is like me? We are the same?" She then notices something on her ear, the earring that was placed by Yukari and says, "something just moved. What was that?" She begins to put her hand on her ear. But as she was doing that, she felt a shock in her hand. "Ah, what was that!?" She says suddenly as she tries to put her hand on her ear again but finds out that she cannot bring her hand any closer. "What is happening? Is there some sort of protection here? A barrier? Why can't I touch my ear?" This causes Chen to become worried. "What did she do to me?, she says, wondering what Ran actually did to her. "Did she put something on my ear? And if she did, why? Why would she do that? This is so strange."

Chen then decides to forget about that and goes to eat the teriyaki chicken that Ran left.

Chen, eating the food, begins to think to herself and thinks about Yukari and Ran begins to make a choice, "I think I will have to stay here and find out why I was made and why I am here. Yukari said I had a Master and Ran said that she was my Master. I must be here to serve her, but why? What happened?" It was at this moment that she stops eating whilst thinking, "I am such a mess. I really, really am such a mess. Is this my torture? Is this my punishment? My existence only to serve someone?" She then goes to have some of the soup, "then I am nothing more than a puppet, something with no free will of its own. I have no life and I can never be loved. And just what am I exactly? I am sure I am a cat, but a cat with two tails?" She thinks, to which she is then sad. She believes her existence is only to serve people and that she does not have a life of her own. She think thinks this about herself, "I was right, I am a monster." Believing again, that she is a monster.

Just then, Orin enters the room.

Orin is seen smiling at Chen. "Enjoying your feast, kitty?" She says. This alarms Chen as she then questions her, "Who are you?" She asks. "Me? Oh, I'm just someone." Says Orin. Chen examines Orin and sees her as being another version of herself and says, "you look a lot like me".

Orin then opens her eyes wide and then closes them a bit, as what Chen said caught her attention. " Do I, now?" She says as she then giggles a bit, "you are funny. But I suppose I do look like you in a way. Chen replies with, "you have ears that stick out and two tails. Are we really the same?

This amuses Orin even more, "You really are funny. I will let you decide for yourself. But this is not why I came. I came…," she says as she begins to get closer to Chen, "... to pick you up." Chen gets concern and does not understand what Orin is saying, "pick me up? What do you mean, "pick you up"? I thought…" She says.

"That is what my master wants…" Orin says as she puts her hand against Chen's cheek, "... and you are going to come with me since that is what my master wishes. "Your master?" A curious Chen asks. She thinks to herself, "then we really are the same."

Orin informs Chen about it, "yes. But she just calls me her "pet"." She then asks Chen a similar question, "that fox girl that I saw before. I'm guessing she is your master?" Chen hears Orin say "fox girl", referring to Ran as that, and questions her, "fox girl? As in Ran? You were there?

"Oh, yes. Oh, you are so innocent," says Orin as she takes her hand away and then moves away from Chen a little bit. "Both me and my Master were there." She continues.

Chen begins to get out of bed, "and she wants me?" She asks. Orin replies back, "yes. I don't know why, but she is really keen on you. She sees her type as "pets". But don't take it as an insult. She means no harm by it." She then notices that Chen's clothes are unappealing to her and comments about them, "and your dress… You really do need a change of clothing. I am sure my my master has some clothes for you."

Chen comments with, "this master of yours. Who is she?" And Orin responds with, "her name is Satori Komeiji. She is a satori, a type of youkai. From looking at you right now, I would say that you are also a youkai." So, Orin's Master is confirmed to be a youkai like Chen's Master.

This puzzles Chen and you wants answers, "I am a youkai? Me? But I am a cat. How can I really be a youkai?" This causes Orin to become stumped. She puts her hand again her chin and starts to think and then says, "maybe Satori can explain it better." She goes up to Chen again. "When you do come…," she says, as she goes closer to Chen and then closes her eyes a bit and begins to smile, "... we can start to have some fun."

Chen becomes worried due to what Orin said and says, "wh-wh-what are you doing? You aren't going to eat me, are you?" She says, not understanding what Orin meant.

Orin begins to laugh hysterically and then tries to stop herself and says, "oops, I mustn't draw attention." How ever she continues to laugh, but with muffled laughter.

"Why are you laughing?" Chen wonders, "is that happiness that you have? Or is that a suffering?"

Orin thinks to herself, "she really doesn't know, does she? She is like an infant. Is this really the type of youkai that Satori is after? She seems… inexperienced. And what is with her mood? It is like that of a lost child." She then begins to talk to Chen, "Oh, me? Just forget that! I just thought of something funny from before, really. But anyway, what will it be? What will you do?"

Chen has a choice, either she comes with Orin or stays where she is. She begins to reply, "OK, I will come with you. But if this is my home, I want to be able to stay here." Orin protests, "what, stay here with a ball and chain, with the purpose of being wrapped around someone's finger?"

In Orin's protest and way to get her to persuade her to come with her, she responds with, "er, well…," she then begins to continually touch her digit fingers with one another and continues, "only if it makes her happy."

"Listen, you come with me and I promise you will be happy," says Orin. This causes Chen to feel happy and she says, "do you mean it? Do you..," she then suddenly starts to cry and continues, "... really mean it?"

Orin tries to comfort her, "hey, shh… No need to cry," she then goes to give Chen a cuddle, "no need to cry. " Chen stops crying after a few sniffles and then says, "OK. OK, I will come with you."

They both start to leave the house.

Outside the Yakumo house however, there is a person nearby.

The person is seen overlooking the house and sees Orin leaving the building with Chen and says this, "ah, I see the dear Shikigami has left the safe haven. How careless of you, Ran." The mysterious figure begins to smirk and continues to talk. "You are making it far too easy for me. All I have to do now is follow her tail. Thank you so much, my sweet, little vixen."

Meanwhile, at Myouren Temple, Mamizou is sleeping at her residence.

Yashima is seen trying to wake up a sleeping Mamizou, "Mamizou… Mamizou… Hey, Teakettle! Wake up!"

Mamizou then begins to wake up, after hearing Yashima, and says, "how many times do I have to tell people? I am not a Bunbu…," she begins to open her eyes and looks at the person in wonder, "... ku. Who are you?

Yashima closes his eyes, giving Mamizou a mischievous look, "Hehe!" He says. He then opens his eyes and continues, having a bit of fun, "Teakettle! Teakettle! Teakettle! Teakettle"!

Mamizou starts to get irritated, "that's enough!", She says as she fires a bullet at Yashima, which Yashima then dodged.

"Wow, that was close," Yashima says after dodging the bullet. Mamizou questions Yashima, not realising who he is, "tell me, just who are you? Yashima giggles a bit. "I'm Yashima, silly," he says. Mamizou begins to wonder, "Yashima?" She says, "as in Yashima Hogo? Stop playing games with me! You do not look that person." She then says, in disbelief. "But it's true," says Yashima.

Mamizou then examines Yashima and says, "you look different and you look… smaller. No, you're not him. You can't be." It was then that Yashima confirms something. Who he is currently was not what he was before when he met Mamizou. "This is my "Child form". What you saw before was my "Adult form"," he says.

A confused Mamizou has this to say, "child and adult forms? So you are saying that you really can transform? You said you couldn't. Are you messing with me?"

Yashima laughs childishly and confesses, "I'm not. I really can't transform."

Mamizou starts to get out of bed, turning to her side and then continues talking, "then what do you call this?"

Yashima ignores the question, "I'm like you! I'm a raccoon dog just like you."

This is when Mamizou starts to get annoyed, so she says, "you aren't listening, dear. I asked…"

Yashima interrupts and becomes rude in the process, "I heard you already, old lady."

Mamizou begins to get agitated and thinks, "Old lady!?" She, furious at this stage, begins to talk, "listen, you… You should not even be here. This is my room. I don't know how you knew I was here, but you need to leave… NOW!"

Yashima begins to wonder and thinks to himself, "did I say something I shouldn't have said? How touchy." He then takes the sake bottle that is wrapped around his body and starts to drink from it.

"You aren't going to leave? Fine," Mamizou says as she then starts to walk towards the door. "If you aren't out of here by the time I get back, I swear I'll kill you, whoever you are."

Yashima begins to stop drinking and tries to convince a sceptical Mamizou, "I told you, I'm..."

Mamizou stops walking, interrupts Yashima and begins to shout, "What you said was just a big lie!" She quietens down a bit, "you aren't Yashima Hogo. Yashima, apart from being a bake-danuki, was slightly taller than you and wore different clothing. The only thing that reminds me of him is that thing that you are wearing on your back." Mamizou then begins to shout again, "also… ALSO, his voice was not the same as yours!" And she then begins to pant.

Yashima, after hearing what Mamizou just said, thinking now that she really does not believe what he is the Yashima that she saw before. But that is when he thinks of something to say, "oh? So you never did examine me properly?"

Mamizou says, "I told you, you are not…," she then notices something, "... Wait… that tail. The look on that tail. It looks the same as his… It looks exactly like Yashima's!"

Yashima closes his eyes and smiles, Mamizou now realising who he really is, and says, "hehe, so you are no longer sceptical? Mamizou starts to get really confused. "But... Bu-bu-bu-bu…," she says.

Yashima begins to take the mick out of Mamizou "Bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-Bunbuku!" He then begins to laugh and say more, "Choo-choo!" Acting quite childish. An unamused Mamizou has this to say, "you're really getting on my nerves.

But Yashima did not mean any harm by it and so he says to Mamizou, "I'm only playing with you," and then smiles. .

"So hun, you're Yashima? You are really him? But how?" Mamizou says, questioning him.

Yashima then talks, "and all it took was one look at my tail?" He then looks at his own tail and continues, "yes, it looks nice, doesn't it?" He turns to look at Mamizou, closes his eyes and grins, "I like it, it suits me quite nicely" he says.

But is still confused, even after what Yashima said, since Yashima was not being very clear with her, "but your appearance… I still do not understand your appearance." It was then that Yashima says, "do you like it? It's a little trick of mine."

Mamizou, for some peculiar reason, becomes confused by this. Trick? What do you mean, "trick"?" She questions.

Yashima goes silent for a bit and then starts to talk again, "remember what I told you before?"

"What you told me?" Mamizou asks, to which she then realises something and then starts to remember a moment after encountering Yashima, "from Yashima, "I cannot transform like a bake-danuki should. But to make up for it, I have an ability to create illusions."". "No… No… So this is your…," thinking that she might have realised something.

Yashima begins to laugh for a bit and says, "it looks like you figured it out! 'Bout time."

"I need to think about this," says Mamizou, as she then starts to go outside, "I am going to leave you to it. Just remember to… " She suddenly loses consciousness and falls to the ground.

Yashima then goes to sit on Mamizou's bed and starts moving his legs about in delight, "ha! She fell for it. Quite literally as well," he says, giggling. He then gets off of the bed and starts to walk towards the door. "I think I will go and see how the Umbrella Lady is doing," he says as he nearly bumps nearly bumps into Mamizou and has something to add, "oops! Gotta mind my step."

Yashima then gets out of the building and then picks up the sword that he left outside, next to the door and then starts to walk off.

Yashima then says this, "I better do this quick or I'll get in trouble. Not like it matters anyway. I have LOADS of free time," and begins to smile impishly. A moment later, he is seen arriving at the graveyard. "Well, there it is. I wonder how she is doing?" He comments and then starts to go into the graveyard.

Meanwhile, at the Yakumo house.

Ran is outside at this moment in time, drinking tea whilst thinking about what Yukari was saying, "from Yukari: "... now that you have your own shikigami, you must protect it. Your life will never be the same again."" She stops drinking and then sighs, "so this is what she meant when she said that my life would no longer be the same. Why is this happening to me now? Does Yukari really trust me that much?, She says, wondering if Yukari made the right choice in trusting Ran. She starts remembering more of Yukari's words yes again, "from Yukari: "with this, you and the shikigami become one and the shikigami's pain becomes your pain but not the other way around."" She starts to get back up and then begins to decide on something, "I think I know what I must do now. I need to go to Yukari.""

End of Chapter


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: A Heartfelt Yōkai

At the Yakumo house, Ran Yakumo is going to see Yukari.

Ran is seen looking for Yukari and says this to her, "Yukari? Oh, she is not here."

It was then that Yukari began to appear, opening a gap of which she appears out o. "Looking for me, my dear?" She says, giving out a wondrous expression.

Ran becomes a little bit of a shocked by this and asks, "was that really necessary?"

Yukari begins then covers her mouth and closes an eye. "I thought I could have a bit of fun from time to time. It can be boring here at times," she says, as she says this to Ran.

Ran begins to get a little bit serious as she wants to tell Yukari something. "Anyway, I need to ask you something," she says, "something important."

Yukari begins to get out of the gap and then closes it and then talks to Ran again, "oh? Like what?"

Ran has concerns about Yukari. She wonders if she really did the right thing in trusting her with her own shikigami. "Do you really trust me that much. This shikigami, Chen… Do you really have that much faith in me?" She says.

"Listen, Ran, you have enough power to be able to make and control your own shikigami," Yukari says, "I wanted you to do happier. But it was my mistake, I was not being very clear. As a result, I ended up giving you a life worth losing."

Yukari's words cause Ran to wonder. "A life worth losing? What are you talking about?" She wanted a confirmation.

Yukari has this to say as she explains herself, "I mean I made you use too much of your power. Because of this, Chen became unstable. Pouring too much energy into a dead animal is like pouring water into a a cup that is already full; it will eventually pour out. I told you your life would never be the same again because you, yourself, are my shikigami. I have experienced the pain that you felt. But I nurtured you, raised you like a mother."

"But you said that a shikigami would only act like this if I used Hāyuketsu and you did it for me and you did not use it. You used the other method," Ran says, hinting that Yukari did not use the method that is Hāyuketsu, leaving her to believe that what Yukari is saying is making less sense for her.

Yukari responds, "Hāyuketsu is not the only way to make an unstable shikigami… Adding more power than required is another way."

Now that Ran heard what she had to hear, she questions Yukari, "so where does this leave me?"

Yukari goes closer to Ran and puts her hand on her shoulder. "I want you to protect your shikigami. I want you to protect Chen. She is your flesh and blood and at the moment, she should be stable with that earring that I put on her. But you will have to start teaching her things such as controlling her power," she says, taking her hand away.

So Ran says, "so she is like a newborn child?"

Yukari then begins to state the obvious to Ran, "well, she was born only just recently." She then continues, saying yet more explanations, "but she will not know emotions. She probably does not know her purpose in life."

Ran begins to think to herself. "So that is it, then?" she thinks, as she begins to look downwards and carries on thinking, "Yukari, if what you are saying is true, then I am not the only one that is suffering."

"But, if the worst does happen and she does happen to turn on you…," Yukari says, while moving closer to Ran. It was then that she says something shocking in front of Ran, as she carries on, "... I want you to kill her." She then moves away.

This shocks Ran. She could not believe what Yukari just said. "Me? Kill her? Why would you say such a thing, Yukari!?" She says.

"It is for your own good. I really, really cannot afford to lose you." Yukari says, implying that it is something that she needs to do, seeming cold in saying so.

This causes Ran to question her, "cannot afford to lose me? What are you trying to say?"

Yukari begins to turn around and leave the room.

"Yukari," Ran says, as she then begins to shout, "YUKARI!"

A tear rolls down Yukari's face as she then thinks to herself, "please find it in your heart to forgive me, Ran."

Meanwhile, Orin and Chen have arrived at the Palace of Earth Spirits.

"Well, here we are. This is where my master lives," Orin says to Chen.

Chen starts to get a bit sweaty due to the heat in the area. "But there were so many of those sticky things back there. Some of it went on me. It felt horrible." She says, implying that there were cobwebs or something along the way to the Palace.

"Oh, those things?" Orin says, "they are only cobwebs. She should really clean up more often."

Chen then explains the temperature of the area, "and it feels so warm. Why is it so warm?" She questions.

Orin just smiles at Chen, "Is it? I never really noticed," she says, implying that she never realised it before.

A wondering Chen asks, "you… You never noticed? This doesn't bother you?"

"I am a hell cat. This is practically my environment. And it is so hot because, well, we are close to the Hell of Blazing Fires." Orin confirms to Chen.

This puzzles Chen, "Hell of… what?"

Orin begins to repeat herself, "Hell of Blazing Fires, my sweet kitten." She then giggles a little bit before continuing, "this is like the gateway to there."

Chen opens her eyes wide and starts to get worried. "Wait… Does that mean you are going to kill me? Are you sending me to my…," she says, as gulps and then carries on, "... my resting place?"

Orin closes her mouth and uses her hand for support, trying desperately not to laugh.

Chen then tilts her head in confusion. "What's wrong?" She says, wondering why Orin is acting like this, "was I right? You really are…"

Orin then interrupts her, "I did not come here to kill you or send you to hell. And besides, I only like to collect corpses."

"Corpses? What are corpses?" A curious Chen asks Orin.

Orin begins to think to herself, "maybe I should tell her." She then stops thinking and begins to talk to Chen, explaining what a corpse is and what she does, "corpses are left over bodies of people. They are bodies of dead people. I collect them and send them to the Hell of Blazing Fires."

This causes Chen to become concerned, "I'm getting worried. Just who or what are you?" She says.

Orin begins to open the doors to the Palace and says to Chen, "You will find out soon enough."

Chen is still concerned, now going against Orin's own intentions, and says, "I... I… I… I'm not going with you," and now having second thoughts.

Orin tries to persuade Chen to come in and says, "come on, don't be silly. I brought you here so you could be happy."

"But there is so much that I do not know. I don't know who you are and this place is strange. So many things…," Chen says, as she begins to get depressed, "I wish I had the answers."

Just then, Satori Komeiji is seen going towards the entrance. "What is happening here?" She asks, "Orin, why are you not inside already?"

This gets Orin worked up. "NYA! Sorry, Master! But I did what you wanted and brought the cat," she says as she then winks at Satori.

"I see. Orin, get in," says Satori as she then looks at Chen, turning her attention to her, "and you there. What is your name?"

Chen answers, "I'm Chen…"

"Chen? What a peculiar name." Satori says. She continues, "anyway, I am Satori Komeiji and this…," she then begins to look at Orin and carries on, "... thing…," she then looks at Chen and continues, "... is Rin Kaenbyou."

"Rin… Kaenbyou?" A puzzled Chen asks.

Orin cringes at Satori and then says, "I told you, call me "Orin"!"

Satori covers one of her eyes, saying, "oh, did you? Oh, I do apologise" in a sarcastic manner. .

Orin is not amused by this. "That's not funny!" She says. "Aw, you're not mad at me from before, are you? You are so sweet," patronising Satori.

Chen looks at Orin. "Orin… Your name is Orin?" She asks.

Orin then answers, "yes. And how weird that our names are similar. What a coincidence. "

Chen then begins to talk to Satori, wanting to know why she was summoned to the Palace, "Satori. Satori, why do you want me? I thought I belonged to Ran, my master. I believe she was the one who made me. I thought my purpose was to stay with her."

"Aw, how quaint," Orin says as she starts to look cute.

Satori then shouts at Orin, "Orin, in! And take Chen with you."

All three enter the palace.

Chen looks around in astonishment. "This place is so big!" She says.

"Now that you are here, we need to do something first. Orin, come here." Satori says and then Orin comes closer to her. Satori then talks to Orin, "I want you to go and get your old clothes."

Orin questions Satori, "my old clothes?" She continues, "they never fit me to begin with! You only got them for me because you thought they would fit me." She the thinks to herself, " and because I am so cute."

Satori covers an eye with her hand and smirks, since she just mind-read Orin, "oh dear, did my mind-reading skills just slip passed you, Orin?" She then commands Orin to get those clothes of hers, "before you wet yourself in your own despair, get me those clothes. I am sick to death of the sight of her musty clothes."

Orin talks about how Satori is belittling her. "You speak about death so casually, especially since it was death that brought her here!" She says.

Satori starts to get a bit frustrated and then thinks to herself, "Orin, I really am losing my patience with you…"

Chen is seen getting a bit concerned from what she heard Orin say. "Death? What are you talking about? Orin is… Death?" She asks.

"No, Chen, she is a kasha, a cat demon that is basically another version of a nekomata. Or rather, she was one." Says Satori, who is explaining to Chen.

Chen then questions Satori, "neko… mata?"

"Yes. A nekomata is a cat that has its tail split at some point in its life," Satori explains.

Chen begins to wonder, "and I have two tails. So does that mean… does that mean that I am… a nekomata? She says.

Orin thinks and then clicks her fingers. "So that's what it was called. I will get and get my…, she says, as she then coughs, after mistakenly saying something, and then carries on, "... I mean, those clothes." She then goes into Satori's room.

Satori sighs and thinks to herself, "and here is me thinking she knew her own heritage."

Chen tries to get into grips with her own existence, "so, I'm a nekomata. I'm not a normal cat. I'm a youkai after all. Now I know what I am, I now know what Ran turned me into." She says.

"So this "Ran" made you? She is the reason for your very existence?" Satori asks.

Chen looks away and getting a bit embarrassed. "I think so," she says as she looks at Satori, keeping the expression, "all I know is that she is my Master. I am meant to serve her, right?" She begins to grip onto her arm and continues, "but happiness… Why does it feel so painful?"

"You have it wrong," says Satori, "happiness is not painful at all.

"Then what has given me so much pain!? I am so confused," says an emotional Chen.

It was then that Satori might have a solution to Chen's experience and says, "hmm, could it be that you are just scared? Or that you just feel empty inside?"

"I'm empty inside?" Chen questions.

Satori replies, "I believe that this is what this was about from before. You attacked Ran before because she attacked you. I am guessing you did not know where you belonged either. So you were just a scared kitten, then."

Chen begins to speak again, "but I…"

Just when Chen was talking, Satori interrupts her, "do you really know what emotions are? Have you been having trouble with them?"

"I… I…," Chen says, to which she then begins to look sad and starts to think to herself, "it was all just sudden. My existence was just… so sudden. I did not know what I was doing and where I was from. And then Ran came. I thought she wanted to kill me but it seemed like she just wanted to take me "home". All this time, I just did not know what to do. I thought I was just a monster and that Ran was going to end my life, end me. Why should I have to feel all this pain?"

Satori just so happened to be mind-reading Chen when she thought of that. She goes to Chen and puts her hand on her shoulder. "You are not alone, Chen," she says, "and if this "Ran" made you, she would not have wanted to kill you. The people in this world are not like that. She would not have created you for her own amusement. She is your master, you are her shikigami. You see, you DO have a purpose in life, you DO have somewhere that you belong, even if it is on mountains. She can help you."

Chen slowly starts to cry, confused as to what to do and says, "what should I do? I don't know what to do anymore."

Satori decides on what she believes Chen should do. "I think you should return to your master. If this is really how you feel, then I think you should return to her," she says.

Just then, Orin is seen coming into the room with the clothes that Satori ordered her to get and says, "and here are the…"

Satori begins to shout at Orin, due to Orin's barging in unawares, "and thank you for ruining the mood, sunshine!"

Orin becomes shocked by this, "NYA! What the hell, Satori!?"

Chen is then seen becoming ambivalent in crying and laughter and slowly stops crying whilst continuing to laugh.

Orin looks at Chen and smiles, "you seem awfully happy now," she says.

Chen continues to laugh and then says, "so this is what happiness feels like? It really doesn't hurt." She then starts to feel overjoyed. "It really doesn't!" She says,

"See? I told you. Now, Orin brought the clothes for you. Hurry up and get changed," says Satori, as she then passes the clothes to Chen.

Chen then says, "erm, OK," and then begins to get undressed in front of Orin and Satori.

Satori turns around quickly. "Not in here! Go in there and get changed," she says to Chen. Chen then takes the clothes and then goes into the room.

Orin then mocks Satori. "You really don't like the sight of naked bodies, do you?" She says.

Satori looks at Orin in a weird way and then begins to respond to her with a comeback, "oh, shut up. In fact, if you love it so much, why do you not join her!?"

Orin begins to sweat and laugh nervously and thinks to herself, "I suppose I was asking for that."

Chen, in the other room, is putting the clothes on. "These are hard to put on," she says as she then hurts her foot as she puts her shoes on and goes, "ah!". She continues, "OK, finally done," and then starts to walk out the room.

Chen is now seen with new clothing on; a red a white dress with a bow tie, white socks and red shoes.

Chen is seen doing a twirt. "Well? What do you think?" She asks.

Orin opens her eyes wide in astonishment and thinks, "could I have been that cute if I wore all that?"

"You look lovely," says Satori as she then looks at Orin, "and it looks like it might be giving our shinigami a heart attack. Not getting jealous, are we, Orin?"

Orin gets embarrassed. "N-n-no. Not at all." She closes her eyes and smiles, keeping, keeping the previous expression and continues, "let me see how the hell raven, Okuu, is doing." She then walks off.

"Oh dear, cats and their competitive nature. They always want to be the centre of attention," Satori says as she then pokes a little bit of fun at her, "she left her hannya mask behind."

Chen is thrilled by what Satori did for her. "Thank you, Satori!" She says, as she then leaps onto Satori, "thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"OK. OK. Enough hugs, Chen," says Satori.

Just then, someone appears at the palace.

"Hello? Is my shikigami here?" Says Ran, who was the one who entered the palace.

Chen looks surprised by this. "Ra-Ran!? Why are you here?" She says.

"Why else? I came to take you with me," says Ran.

Satori begins to wonder, "so Chen, this is your master?" She then examines Ran and notices something and then thinks to herself, "something is not right."

This makes Chen think as she then talks to Ran again, "you came to take me with you. So you really do care… about me?"

Ran then explains that she was hers to begins with and she says, "you are my shikigami. You are my property and I am sorry that I did not give you that what you deserved. I treated you badly, like a master to a servant," saying her guilt.

"Ran… Master Ran…," says Chen.

"But I promise I will not be like that anymore. You will not be alone and I do not want you getting hurt anymore, especially not because of me." Ran explains.

This causes Chen to begin emotional and she begins to cry, "Ran… RAAANNNN!" She then starts to cry tremendously.

Satori thinks to herself, "something is not right here." She begins to remember part of the battle between Ran and Chen and continues to think, "I could have sworn Chen sliced one of Ran's tails right off. So why is it that she still has all nine of her tails?" She then talks to Ran, "say, Ran, how did your tail grow back? You were damaged earlier."

"Oh, that? A kitsune's tail grows back eventually," she explains.

Satori is not convinced as she is looks in a suspicious manner, "oh, really?" She then thinks, "hmm…"

Ran looking at Chen. "Chen, time to go home," she says.

Chen closes her eyes, smiles and nods and says, "OK!"

They both walk out of the palace.

"I need to get Orin here right now!" Says Satori, as she then goes to find Orin.

Meanwhile, at Myouren Temple.

Mamizou is waking up and groaning. "What happened?" She says as she starts to get up, "but when did I fall asleep? Everything went normally as I was going outside. Just how did I end up here? Maybe I need to see that Yashima again…." She starts to go outside.

Outside the premises of Myouren Temple.

Yashima, in his "Adult form," is seen sleeping on a branch and is starting to wake up. "Well, that was now…," he says as he goes to get his sake bottle and goes to drink out of it and then continues, "... Oh, it's empty."

Mamizou arrives and has this to say, "ah, there you are! What is going on?"

"Oh look, why isn't it the Teakettle?" Yashima says, taking the mick out of her, "go and bother someone else, like Nazrin. I am on guard and…," begins to yawn and then continues, "... rather sleepy."

"Listen, you, I am not a Bunbuku!" A slightly annoyed Mamizou says.

Yashima Hogo responds with, "oh yes, how silly of me to forget." He begins to smirk as he then mocks Mamizou again, "it was Mamizou Hutatsuiwa."

"Futatsuiwa. FU-tatsuiwa!" Mamizou explains.

"Whatever the case," Yashima says as he then jumps off the branch. "Can I use that sake bottle of yours? Mine is empty," asking for someone of Mamizou's.

Mamizou begins to wonder about Yashima. "Why do you want to get drunk so badly? You are a guardian, aren't you? Wouldn't that be indecent of you?" SHe says, questioning him.

Yashima talks back, "you can talk, with that pipe of yours. One who cannot control her own bad habits."

Mamizou opens her eyes wide in shock, "why, you little…"

Yashima clicks his fingers, which causes an image of himself to appear behind Mamizou. The image then scares Mamizou, which she then responds by hitting it out of reflex. The image then disappears.

Mamizou then says to the sniggering Yashima, "that's not funny! I can get a heart attack, you know."

Yashima begins to poke fun at Mamizou, "hey, at least it means I get a nice fluffy tail as my pillow. Maybe even a blanket. Yes, definitely a blanket."

Mamizou starts to really get annoyed. "I am not going to take any more of this from you!, She says and then continues, going to say the reason why she came, "besides, I came here to ask what happened to me before."

"It's called "old age"," the content Yashima (AF) says.

"Old age?" Mamizou says as she then begins to shout "OLD AGE!?"

Yashima then announces that he only wanted to have fun and meant nothing by it by saying, "don't get your knickers in a twist. I was just messing with you." He carries on, "you want to know why you were sleeping, right? It's one of my abilities," explaining what Mamizou wanted to know.

Mamizou squints. "What? Another ability?" She says.

Yashima begins to explain, "yes. I can place illusionary traps in areas that, when someone touches them, they fall under the illusion and go into a deep sleep. They are not aware that they are asleep and will still think that what is happening is really happening. "

"Really?" Mamizou says.

Yashima moves his kasa a bit, saying, "so please…," jumps onto a branch and carries on, "... mind your step."

This causes Mamizou to wonder. She did not want to hit another one of his traps. "B-b-but… How do I know where these traps are? You could have several for all I know, hun!" She says.

"I've been asleep for quite some time and my illusions don't work when I am asleep. Any traps that I set up have been dispelled," Yashima says, hinting that Mamizou does not need to worry.

Mamizou sighs in relief.

"But that doesn't mean that I am not going to set more up right now," Yashima (AF) says, as he then gets ready to place the traps and begins to smirk. "Are you ready for this?" He says.

Mamizou gets scared and quickly runs into the premise of Myouren Temple.

Yashima opens his eyes wide and says, "wow, old people today have no sense of humour…"

End of chapter


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